ok, as i am starting to purchase different kaiju pieces and looking at how different companies design/mold the characters, i am wondering where the company Bandai fits in to it all?
i have noticed that their prices tend to be much less. are they not as good of quality as the other companies such as Bullmark, Marusan, etc?
I have not seen a bandai kaiju figure(in the 7 to 9 inches range) in person, so i am curious if anyone else has any input

These days, the Bandai 6-inch vinyls tend to be hyper-detailed. They are mass produced which is reflected in the retrail price, about 600-800 Yen a piece.

I suspect some of the kaiju vinyls you've purchased bigger and made by a smaller company (and in smaller numbers).

ahh, that makes sense
i have been focusing my efforts on marusan, marmit, and m ichigo
usually the figures are coming to around 40 or 50 bucks apiece. they are mainly figures that were made in the mid to late 90's(at least that is what i gathered from clubtokyo.org)

yeah, Bandai is more in the very detailed, ultra realistic vein. they do some wacky colors sometimes, like clear orange or clear green or something like that, usually as theater exclusives.

but companies like marmit, m-1, etc. are much smaller runs, often hand painted, often more fun, weirder, wilder sculpts and colors.

there are lots of people who only collect Bandai though.

Bandai definitely goes for the "realistic"/movie authentic sculpts. I'm a bigger fan of the "less authentic/takes liberty" sculpts from Bullmark, Marusan, Marmit, and M1gou. Not that won't pick up a cheapie Bandai now and then...

Think of Bandai as you would Mattel or Hasbro. Big company putting out huge amounts of each toy. Very cheap (cost wise) great sculpts with killer detail as everyone has already mentioned.

Well the most obvious answer has been overlooked....
Bandai uses PVC which is not the same "hard" vinyl that other companies use..
Bandai's use of PVC makes it easier for them to crank out thousands of inexpensive figures from multiple duplicate molds in Chinese factories.
Marmit, CCP, Bear,M1 etc. use rotocast vinyl in small productions runs most often cast in a garage somewhere in Japan. They dont use PVC which is a cheaper material.

Bandai is a MASSIVE company...their 80's diecast toys have never been equalled in quality.

they make power rangers

Just to clarify something: PVC = Poly Vinyl Chloride, what we call vinyl. The vinyl in M-1 Go's toys is the same chemical compound as Bandai's toys, it's just that Bandai uses more plasticizers (phthalates) in their toys to make them softer so they conform to safety standards.

el maz, as Chad mentioned, mass production definitely comes into play. Each 800 yen Ultraman monster is produced in numbers of tens or even hundreds of thousands, which allows them to hit that price point. Marmit, Bear Model, etc. may not make more than a thousand or two of each figure they produce, and of course location counts (material and labor costs in Bandai's factories in China vs. Japanese ones).

i really appreciate all of the input from you guys!

it's really hard to get a feel for some of these figures when i havent seen them in person.

as for mass produced Bandai figures, i have to say that i much rather would have some low # produced hand crafted figure from smaller companies. plus, i really enjoy the spin that companies like Marusan put on the figures(the Marusan Bagaron is my current fav)

collecting Bandai would definitely be cheaper
I buy'em for my nephews - find used ones at the shows for $1~$2 a piece.

Not to overgeneralize - and its hard to put your finger on exactly - but IMHO most of the figs that people on this board collect tend to be either repros of or pay homage to the quirky charm of the vinyl figs form the 60's & 70's.

whats wrong with a bit of PR?

nothing at all dude. I recently found the first half of the first season online. wanna come over and watch some?

_________

Nope. RIF.

i'll be there in 13 hours....